Making an offer

Understanding price guides: reserve, asking, estimated and indicative price

Why a listing can carry five different numbers, what the Property Price Statement (formerly the Statement of Information) must disclose, and how Victoria's underquoting rules work.

What is a price guide, and how is it different from the reserve?

Five different numbers, easily confused

A single listing can carry an estimated selling price, an indicative selling price, an asking or reserve price, a suburb median, and — after the fact — a sale or passed-in price. They answer different questions and are set by different rules; treating any one of them as "what the property is worth" is a common way buyers over- or under-anchor.

Estimated selling price

The agent's own estimate, given to the seller in the sales authority. It must be reasonable and take into account the 3 properties the agent considers most comparable (Consumer Affairs Victoria, verified 30 Jul 2026). It sets a floor: the agent cannot advertise below it.

Indicative selling price (Property Price Statement)

Every residential property an agent is engaged to sell must have a Statement of Information, whether or not the property is advertised. It must state an indicative selling price — a single figure or a range of up to 10% — details of the 3 most comparable sales (or a statement that fewer than 3 exist), and the suburb median house or unit price, no more than 6 months old (Consumer Affairs Victoria, verified 30 Jul 2026). That indicative price cannot be lower than the agent's estimate, the seller's asking price, or a written offer the seller has already rejected (Consumer Affairs Victoria, verified 30 Jul 2026). It must be displayed at every open for inspection, included in online advertising, given to you within 2 business days of a request, and updated whenever it changes (Consumer Affairs Victoria, verified 30 Jul 2026) — it's the first thing worth checking on a property you're seriously considering.

From 1 October 2026 the Statement of Information is replaced by the Property Price Statement, under the Consumer Legislation Amendment Act 2026, which became law on 8 September 2026 (Parliament of Victoria, verified 27 Sep 2026). It keeps everything above and adds the key features of the property and of each comparable sale: building type, bedrooms, bathrooms, car spaces, internal floor area and land size. Online, it has to sit on the first visible part of the listing, next to the advertised price, rather than as a link at the bottom (Consumer Affairs Victoria, verified 27 Sep 2026). For auctions and fixed-date sales, the new statement applies to those held on or after 16 October 2026, so an older listing may still show a Statement of Information until the agent updates it (Consumer Affairs Victoria, verified 27 Sep 2026).

Reserve price and asking price

The lowest price a seller will actually accept is the reserve price at auction, or the asking price in a private sale. It can differ from the agent's estimate, a seller isn't required to disclose it to their agent during the campaign, and an auction reserve is usually only set on the day itself — sometimes higher than the advertised range (Consumer Affairs Victoria, verified 30 Jul 2026).

That changes for auctions and fixed-date sales held on or after 16 October 2026. The agent must publish the seller's reserve price at least 7 days beforehand, as a single dollar figure with no "from", "over" or "+", and if it hasn't been published the sale can't go ahead (Consumer Affairs Victoria, verified 27 Sep 2026). The seller can still set a reserve above the range advertised earlier, and any change to it, up or down, restarts the 7-day clock. Once published, the reserve is the only advertised price, and the Property Price Statement shows both the reserve and the indicative selling price (Consumer Affairs Victoria, verified 27 Sep 2026). The rule doesn't cover private sales without a fixed date or pre-auction offers (Consumer Affairs Victoria, verified 27 Sep 2026), so there the seller's lowest acceptable price is still private: treat any informal figure an agent gives you as unverified.

Sold prices are published too

For sales that become unconditional on or after 1 October 2026, the agent must add the sold price to the Property Price Statement within 7 days and keep it public for at least 18 months. The exceptions are an exemption granted by Consumer Affairs Victoria for family or personal violence, and an agent's engagement signed before 1 October 2026 that requires the price to stay private (Consumer Affairs Victoria, verified 27 Sep 2026). That gives you actual sale prices for recent comparable sales within days, rather than waiting for them to appear after settlement.

Comparable sales

To count as comparable for underquoting purposes, a property must be of similar standard or condition, and — in metro Melbourne — sold in the last 6 months within 2km, or outside metro Melbourne, sold in the last 18 months within 5km (Consumer Affairs Victoria, verified 30 Jul 2026). From 1 October 2026 the agent must use the 3 most comparable properties, and if only 1 or 2 sold in that window, must use and list those rather than none (Consumer Affairs Victoria, verified 27 Sep 2026). The comparable sales listed in a Property Price Statement are a starting point, not a substitute for your own read of how genuinely similar they are to the specific property.

Advertising rules and what changes trigger an update

Agents may advertise a single price or a range of up to 10%, cannot use qualifying words like "offers above" or "from", and cannot advertise below the estimated selling price, the seller's asking price, or a rejected written offer (Consumer Affairs Victoria, verified 30 Jul 2026). If a seller rejects a written offer specifically because it's too low, the agent must update the indicative price and any advertised price below that offer — but not if the offer was rejected for another reason, like its conditions (Consumer Affairs Victoria, verified 30 Jul 2026). Agents who breach these rules risk a penalty of more than $48,842 and forfeiting their commission (Consumer Affairs Victoria, verified 30 Jul 2026).

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A price selling above guide isn't automatically underquoting

An advertised or estimated price is a guide only and can change while a property is on the market. A property selling for more than its advertised price doesn't necessarily mean underquoting occurred — competing buyers bidding against each other can also push the price up (Consumer Affairs Victoria, verified 30 Jul 2026). Read a wide gap as a prompt to ask questions, not as proof of a breach.

None of these numbers is a valuation

A price guide, an estimate and a suburb median are all different things from a valuation, and none of them is one. The suburb median describes a whole suburb's sales, not this specific property. A passed-in amount may include a vendor bid, so it isn't a verified market-clearing price either. If you need an actual valuation — for finance, for a serious negotiation, or because the evidence is genuinely unclear — that's a separate engagement with a certified practising valuer or buyer's advocate, not something a price guide or comparable-sales table substitutes for.

If you suspect underquoting

Preserve the evidence first — screenshot or save every version of the advertisement and Property Price Statement (or Statement of Information) you've seen, noting the date. Request an updated statement if the price appears to have changed without one being issued. If you believe underquoting has actually occurred, report it directly to Consumer Affairs Victoria rather than relying on your own read of the gap between guide and sale price — that's a determination for the regulator, not something this page can make for you.

How NSW compares: a similar 10% range cap, but disclosure is optional for the seller

NSW runs a comparable but genuinely different regime. An agent must include an estimated selling price in the agency agreement, reasonably based on comparable sales and market conditions, and — if it's expressed as a range — the top can't exceed the bottom by more than 10%, the same cap Victoria uses (NSW Government (NSW Fair Trading), verified 27 Oct 2026). The real structural difference: unlike Victoria's compulsory Property Price Statement (which replaced the Statement of Information from 1 October 2026 (Consumer Affairs Victoria, verified 27 Sep 2026)), an NSW seller can instruct their agent not to disclose the estimated selling price to buyers at all — no price information in advertisements, in writing, or verbally (NSW Government (NSW Fair Trading), verified 27 Oct 2026). NSW has also legislated reform — the Property and Stock Agents Amendment (Underquoting and Other Agent Conduct) Act 2026 — that moves it closer to Victoria's model: a price or range in every advertisement an agent arranges, never below the agent's estimate, a passed-in auction's highest bid or a written offer rejected only as too low; a Statement of Information with comparable sales; and penalties for underquoting of up to $110,000 or 3× commission. Its first stage, higher penalties for other agent offences and stronger enforcement powers, started on 29 June 2026. The price-guide rules and the underquoting penalty are the second stage, starting on a date to be announced, expected towards the end of 2026, so the current opt-out regime described above is what applies today (NSW Government (NSW Fair Trading), verified 27 Oct 2026).

Practical checklist

Before you rely on a price guide

• Get the current Property Price Statement (or Statement of Information), not just the portal listing price
• For an auction or fixed-date sale from 16 October 2026, note the published reserve and when it was published
• Check the date of the 3 comparable sales and how genuinely similar they are
• Note the suburb median and how old it is
• In a private sale, don't rely on an informal reserve or asking-price answer from the agent
• Save a dated copy of every version of the advertisement and price statement you see
• Request an updated statement if the price appears to have changed without one being reissued

Questions for a professional

• Do the comparable sales in this Property Price Statement genuinely reflect this property?
• Has the indicative price changed since the property was first listed, and why?

Official resources

• Consumer Affairs Victoria: New changes to property sales and underquoting laws
• Consumer Affairs Victoria: Underquoting information for real estate agents
• Consumer Affairs Victoria: Understanding property prices and underquoting for buyers
• NSW Government: Price estimation and underquoting when selling a property

Sources and methodology

• Understanding property prices and underquoting for buyers — Consumer Affairs Victoria (retrieved 30 Jul 2026). Licence: CC BY 4.0
• Underquoting information for real estate agents — Consumer Affairs Victoria (retrieved 30 Jul 2026). Licence: CC BY 4.0
• Price estimation and underquoting when selling a property — NSW Government (NSW Fair Trading) (retrieved 27 Oct 2026). Licence: NSW Government content, reproduced for research/citation purposes
• Changes to property and stock agents laws | NSW Fair Trading — NSW Government (NSW Fair Trading) (retrieved 27 Oct 2026). Licence: NSW Government content, reproduced for research/citation purposes
• Consumer Legislation Amendment Act 2026 (Vic), No. 36 of 2026 — Act as made — Parliament of Victoria (retrieved 27 Sep 2026). Licence: Victorian legislation — free reuse per legislation.vic.gov.au copyright notice
• New changes to property sales and underquoting laws | Consumer Affairs Victoria — Consumer Affairs Victoria (retrieved 27 Sep 2026). Licence: CC BY 4.0
• Industry Q&As: New changes to property sales and underquoting laws | Consumer Affairs Victoria — Consumer Affairs Victoria (retrieved 27 Sep 2026). Licence: CC BY 4.0

Figures on this page are drawn from Delora's local knowledge graph, refreshed from these primary sources and checked for changes on a regular schedule. If a figure here looks out of date, the official source above is always the authority — please let us know.